Pact's Revival

Fandom: Drakengard

Rating: R for blood, gore and manic thoughts at certain points

Genre: Prologue – Tragedy. Story – Angst.

Pairings: CaimxAngelus, NowexManah, and several others.

Timeline: Begins 10 years after the first ending of Drakengard 2.

Spoilers: Minimum, but I can't avoid them forever.

Disclaimer: I don't own Drakengard / Drag-on Dragoon, but I have finished both games at least once.

Summary: On a trip to the old Goddess' Castle, for old time's sake, Nowe encounters a child with fiery red hair and the most amazing blue eyes. Who is this girl and why can she only speak the tongue of dragons?

Notes: After clearing Chapter 9, I simply felt it was completely unfair what happened to Caim and Angelus, and as such, I've been fiddling with a number of ideas, and this was the eventual result.

Notes on the prologue: Definite spoiler alert there, but this is how I think the end of Chapter 9 should've been.

Well, that's all I had to say; enjoy.

Prologue

"Legna behind you!" Nowe shouted, and Legna instantly swerved to the side, only just avoiding a bolt of fire that would've seriously hurt.

Legna growled. "When did she get behind us!"

"She's fast…" Nowe whispered under his breath. "I can't even keep track of her!"

He wasn't even sure how long they had been at it. The red dragon, Angelus, was by far stronger than any opponent Legna and he had ever faced before in the skies. Her speed only made her all the more dangerous. If Legna were to turn around to face her, she'd already have flown to behind them in the time it took them to turn.

Nowe was shaken from his thoughts and yowled when Legna sent them upward with one clap of his wings, only just avoiding the rays of fire. One of them just graced over Legna's leg however, and the blue dragon roared in pain. "Argh! Dammit!"

"Hang in there, Legna!" Nowe called out, wishing there was something, anything he could do.

Suddenly, Legna spoke again. "My boy, I have a message."

Nowe blinked, trying to figure out what he meant, before realizing there was only one person around the vicinity who could possibly contact Legna when they were up in the air. "From Caim?" he asked.

Legna nodded and then said plainly: "Kill Angelus."

"What?" Nowe demanded in horror. "They wish to die?"

"'Death will be a blessing for Angelus and I' he says. Indeed, this would be a fitting arrangement for all concerned."

Nowe bit his lip at the news. "Poor Caim…" he whispered. "He must have been attacking the districts for the past three years. He must have been trying to set the red dragon free."

"Show no mercy!" Legna shouted. "Do you wish to die!"

Shaking his head, Nowe focused back on the battle with Angelus. This time, Legna wasn't holding back and Nowe was pushing all he had into the fight.

"Caim!" Angelus suddenly screamed out even as she flung another burst of fire their way. "Caim, the one who calls to me… I cannot see… Where are you?"

Nowe frowned sadly. 'Don't worry, Angelus… it'll be all over soon…'

Legna swerved out of the way and fired at Angelus, only to curse when she dodged it, easily. This wasn't going good. They were dealing enough damage with every hit, but she barely even seemed to notice it.

How long it lasted, Nowe wasn't sure, but then he realized there was a slight pattern in what Angelus did. Smirking a little, Nowe waited until Angelus shot herself right at them. "Legna! Swerve left, turn around and fire twice!" he shouted.

Legna didn't question the boy's strategy, avoiding Angelus by a hair, spun around and fired twice, just like Nowe said.

Angelus roared in agony when the shots nailed her right between her wings, the second one making her pitch forward. Legna watched in awe as she fell down toward the castle. "Did we get her!"

"I think so…" Nowe whispered, just before he heard Angelus scream out.

"CAAAAIIIIIIM!"

With a heavy crash, the red dragon slammed against the stones of the courtyard, releasing a roar of sheer agony as a number of ribs snapped from the impact. Legna landed not that far away from her, but far enough to be out of reach, unless she decided to fry them. Nowe scrambled off the blue dragon and made to rush for Angelus - only to stop when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.

Whipping around, Nowe stared as Caim simply shook his head, before he turned to face Angelus as she struggled to rise. Caim watched her for a moment longer, before he jammed his sword into the stones, lodging it there so that it would not budge. Nowe winced when the grip on his shoulder tightened, but as he looked up at Caim, he choked on air when he saw that the man was smiling.

And then his hand was gone and Caim approached Angelus, his pace steady, but seeming almost hesitant as well. Nowe could only watch anxiously as Angelus managed to push herself up on her wings, if only a little.

"Ugh…" Angelus groaned in pain, and had she been human, she probably would've whimpered. The pain his partner was in tore at his heart, but at the same time, it eased his mind, knowing that everything would be all right soon.

Angelus, he reached out with his mind, praying that she would respond now that she had calmed a little. Angelus, I'm here.

She raised her head, and when she saw him, her expression softened and he could sense the relief washing off of her. "Caim!" she rasped out. "You heard my voice… You heard my voice, and tried to set me free… many times."

Yes… yes, that's right. I couldn't just leave you in such pain. I should have never left at all… I'm sorry…

A slight touch to the back of his mind told him she'd forgiven him. Told him that it wasn't his fault, and he felt some of his tension fade away.

"How the people must have turned against you…" Angelus said, almost sadly. "I did not know… I could not know…"

Hush now. Hush… it's all right now, don't worry. It's okay… I don't care if the entire world was out to kill me for what I tried to pull. I chose the world over you once before… no more of that. Nothing, not even this pathetic world, is more important to me than you are… I'm sorry it took me so long to realize.

Was it just him, or was Angelus smiling? "I had waited so long…" she whispered. "…so long to see you again…"

Yeah… I missed you, too, Angelus… I missed you so much…

Slowly, he reached out and tenderly placed his hand atop her majestic snout, rubbing over the red scales that were now stained with her blood, hearing her quiet purr of contentment. He still remembered that well; how much she always loved it when he rubbed her snout or her neck like that, recalled how she had been able to overcome her fear of the Wyrm, the dragon of legend. It had been over 18 years since he had last touched her like that. That was just too long. Far too long…

His eyes never left hers as he smiled at her in reassurance. She smiled softly, even as the yellow of her eyes began to dull to a pale white.

Is it over… Caim? her voice echoed through his mind as her head dropped to the ground and all of her tension faded from her body.

He smiled sadly.

It's over. We're together now.

Even when Angelus' body became engulfed in flames, Caim completely ignored it and stepped further toward her, placing his hand on her neck and seating himself beside her, resting his cheek against her neck, seemingly unaware of the flames now licking at his own body.

He couldn't help but fight a chuckle at the irony; 18 years ago, this was exactly where they met for the first time. The Empire had attacked the Goddess' Castle, and had captured her. They had both been dying, but in the end they chose to create a pact, right there in the courtyard, and look where that brought them.

Recalling something, he raised his head almost lazily to turn toward where Nowe and Legna stood, staring in rapt attention. Locking eyes with Nowe, he mouthed slowly to the youth: "Thank you."

The kid gaped at that, having clearly understood him, but Caim barely bothered as he rested his head against Angelus' neck again, smiling peacefully for the first time in years, even as his and Angelus' existence was completely wiped away in a whirlwind of ashes.

All that remained as proof that they had ever existed was Caim's sword…